Card show trip - some more vintage

These were more pick ups from the last show I went to over the summer - I may have two or three more things to show, though it might be up in the air whether future roundup posts will ever be made.

The individually priced vintage bins from a familiar enough seller table may have been picked over just the same - but I tried to rummage around to flag some vintage odds and ends, then moved over to the $0.50 bins with the newest cards, but wasn’t patient enough to pick through that.

1959 Topps Baseball Thrills Duke Snider #468 [$10.00] - on my blog, this has been on my collecting topics wantlist - Top 10-15 wants, so I finally knocked it out.

1964 Topps Coins Roberto Clemente #150 [$10.00] - a vintage oddball item picturing an iconic Hall of Fame has symbolic value, even when a cliche I spit out is something being only worth what I paid. 

1967 Topps Dick Allen / Hank Aaron Roberto / Clemente #242 [$10.00] - a trifecta of Hall of Famers makes this leaders card keeper.

1967 Topps Lou Brock #285 [$5.00] - there might be infinitely better cards than a vintage base card of a Hall of Famer, but I'll take it for what I paid. 

Rummaging for some old school material

Card shows are a mixed bag where you can a have a good number of tables in a seemingly nice [hotel] venue - yet it's not 20 or 30 years ago where you might see more tables to pick through dedicated to sports cards and/or strictly to baseball cards of all sorts [though that might be too narrow of a scope anyway, if you are trying to sell things at a modern era card show].

As is I thought I was just warming up digging through the value boxes [$1 each] at one table with more old-school and vintage material at a card show date - but I guess this particular dig ended up my highlight of the day.

Newly minted Hall of Famers - Richie Allen and Dave Parker give me a couple of new legends to sort of collect in a 'catch all' sorts of way, even if I wasn't doing so before.

Cult favorites and/or cult favorite cards - in my collection, I had at least one copy of the 1975 Topps Herb Washington RC #407 and 1975 Topps Oscar Gamble #213, but picking up one more of each should be no brainers.

Odds and ends cards - a 1972 Topps In Action Darrell Evans #172 and a 1975 Topps 1974 NL Championships Steve Garvey/Frank Taveras #460 are just random cards that have ended up as scratch the itch oddities, with Evans caught in the air on his card and the all the dirt kicked up on the Garvey / Taveras card.

Maybe the 'star power' is too much to ignore on the 1975 Topps MVP subset cards - though I don't know if I like the idea of cards pictured within cards, rather than using an original image.

I would have thought to do so before, but I picked up a 1974 Topps Garry Maddox #178 - to go into one nickname themed 'curated sets' [of 100 cards], where I've already built up around three versions.

I wanted a card for the 'Secretary of Defense' that teases some mid 1970s flair - rather than trying to dig up the 1 of 2 I may have squirreled away.

Finally some scattered star power - I was finding the occasional low valued star cards from the mid 1970s onward, so I tried to fish out the ones that didn't seem to have obvious blemishes [off-center, miscut, dog-eared, etc] at first glance.

2023 Topps Chrome Lids pack break with $50 hat

During a stop at an outlet mall, maybe I wanted to see if I can look for a blaster box of cards - I was gifted some cash money [$40] and maybe I go to one the specialty places that sells sports stuff like hats or jerseys, where I've seen they usually have a card display.

I ended up at a Lids and seeing their promotion with Topps, where you can get a bonus pack of special Topps Chrome cards with a purchase of themed Mitchell and Ness hat - figured I had the money that partially covered a purchase of a fitted cap without feeling as self-conscious because I don't wear hats, especially ones that cost $50.

The designs vary by MLB team and also by different Topps themed graphics - I got a California Angels version and while it's not a traditional looking cap, it ends up being kind of funky looking sort of in a stylish way.

The side of the cap features a stylized 1993 Topps patch

Topps Major League Baseball button of sorts affixed on top of the cap

I like the big old-school 'CA' logo

I was looking forward to at least a five-card pack, but Topps ends up being a little stingy with only a three-card bonus pack - it's hard to strike gold with one lousy pack, where I only ended up with Gabriel Moreno, some kind of rookie for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bryce Harper and another rookie in Jordan Walker.

Better than a blaster [?] - some vintage and old school cards

At a card show I went to, I started rummaging through some old-school and vintage cards at a table - I don't think I've seen this seller before and he might have been real happy to be there, where people might be interested in what he was selling.

From the bits and pieces I was overhearing, the seller was a longtime collector - but maybe starting to sell off some odds and ends to his collection.

The seller had scattered $2, $3, $5, $7, $10, $15 and up cards in his boxes - maybe I wanted to get started somewhere else at the show where I didn't want to get stuck in one table at the beginning of my journey, but I started finding some oddball Hostess cards for $2 each and was resigned to see if I can find some other cards to build a stack with.

Maybe the $2 portions had some of the 'newer' cards from the junk wax / UV era - I wanted to focus on finding the occasional off-condition vintage / old school star cards in the $5 rows, though maybe I don't want to blow my wad of cash outright.

Then seller told me the cards priced $5 and up where buy 2, get 1 free - I think what caught my eye was a 1970 Topps Bud Harrelson #634, which in a vintage card of a player inking it up.

Even though it's either miscut or even trimmed up, anything I pick up would have to start and end with that card - it was going home with me

I picked up some other cards, just to have some vintage card 'relics' in-hand - including some fairly loved, off-condition at best star cards.

The seller said if he knew someone was going to look for the Hostess cards, he would have brought more - he said they were mostly common, but unique [because they were not packed out like normal baseball cards].

Along with the old-school, oddball Hostess cards, I was charged $22 for my stack, which seemed reasonable - rather than settling for a shiny, new blaster box for at least several dollars more.

Miscellaneous Topps photo variations

I was probably leaving the card show when I went back and stumbled upon a random table with a $2 box - I started finding these Topps photo variation cards and while they might be worth only what I paid for them, where they've become fairly common, they are still a little different to the naked eye.

I had second thoughts about making this card a keeper, where there might be some junk being teased here, but it's too goofy to pass over - apparently the one-time Pirate is dressed up as Frozone from The Incredibles as part of his rookie initiation ritual back in 2019.

The Lou Gehrig image is a nice 'hats-off' shot - of a presumably contemplative moment for the baseball icon in the dugout.

I like the Roger Clemens variation where he might be the star pupil at spring training camp - as other pitchers are huddled around him.

The image on the Randy Johnson variation looks like it was taken at the same time as his 1992 Pinnacle Sidelines subset - I almost thought it was the same image.

The Jacob deGrom and Glavine are nice images of pitchers doing some hitting and baserunning - I think I missed making a keeper out of a copy of the deGrom card last year and was glad to find another.

The images Giancarlo Stanton, Dustin Pedroia and Rickey Henderson may not be as unique as the others - but they still end up as binder material for my decade stars collection.

This isn't a photo variation but a rookie year factory set variation of New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso - maybe this a type of card that looks good enough as a cheap pick up, but a 'raw card' that might not be good enough to be graded by a third party.

If the card was gradeable and gets a PSA 10 - it might be a $35-$40 card.

Some vintage Angels pick-ups for TTMs

These were more 'here and now' finds off COMC when I tried to get my cards shipped last month - digging around collecting forums I browse, I've seen random autograph successes by mail with these former players and hope to get their autograph in my collection while they are still signing.

As it goes, I've already gotten back Billy Moran and Leo Burke, both signing the card I sent to each one - due to the lack of familiarity and the passage of time, I feel like I'm not really in a position to add autographs of the countless old-timers [1960s, 1970s for example] from my favorite team's history, but I need to find a way to try.

Finished my 2017 Topps team run

My Topps year-to-year run [1978-present] of cards for each MLB team has been a dormant project - but since there is still novelty in the 'newish' flagship cards for the year, I wanted to get 2017 out of the way.

Though my run doesn't exactly go back to the 'vintage years' of the 50s, 60s and early 70s - I want to build a run of Topps cards from the past 35-40 years.

A particular player may only be represented three times for each of the teams he has played for - someone who has played for at least a couple of teams can possibly appear six times, though my goal is to have a variety of players represented and not just a particular player.

There might be some strategy in observing the 3X rule - where I might hold off on simply adding a no-brainer star player's card, maybe to save the spot for next year [or if I've used the same player's card seemingly multiple times in recent years].

There might be some odd player choices but the idea is not doing too much work to create a run of cards featuring just strictly star players - at times I just want to use the cards I already have in my collection [especially, but not limited to the junk wax era years 1986-92] as opposed to being too picky when all I need is a random card to fill a hole.

However, there will be ‘tweaks’ to include prominent players, players with the highest WAR for a particular team in a given year, the most photogenic cards, etc - it’s just no fun when I have no cards to chase after.

2016 Marketside Cheesy Breadsticks II

I picked up another package of breadsticks with another pack of cards - the 'oddball' factor gives me an excuse to seek these out [as opposed to a typical card product I'd find in the card section of a big box store] and I kind of like the breadsticks.

Pack one
#49 Mr. Met
#43 Dee Gordon
#45 Clayton Kershaw
Topps info / coupon card - $2.50 off a Topps 2016 Value Box / $1 off a Topps 2016 Jumbo or Value Pack.
Topps Bunt info / jumbo pack code card

Pulling a card of a MLB mascot and a guy who was suspended 80 games for PEDs nearly made this pack break a 'loss' for me - I did pull a card of the best pitcher in the game today, so I'll take it.

2016 Marketside Cheesy Breadsticks

I might not have been looking for the pizza at the right place [or they might not have been at my Walmart yet] the first time I started to hear about this card promo - in a recent visit, I found the Marketside pizza / breadsticks were in the freezer aisle but in an another aisle from the usual pizzas.

I checked to see if the card pack was inside the boxes it was packed loose in the bottom of the food item - the pack wasn’t stuck by some sort of adhesive to keep them intact. 

I'm more into pizza than breadsticks but I'd rather get two packs of cards with two packages of breadsticks [$4 each] - instead of one pack with a purchase of a single pizza for the same price.

Pack one

#22 Noah Syndergaard 

#8 Miguel Cabrera

#17 Chris Sale

Topps info / coupon card - $2.50 off a Topps 2016 Value Box / $1 off a Topps 2016 Jumbo or Value Pack.

Topps Bunt info / jumbo pack code card

Pack two

#35 Tyson Ross - I figure there are no real ‘duds’ in the checklist though Ross is kind of ‘meh’ at best.

#1 Mike Trout

#6 Carlos Correa

Topps info / coupon card

Topps Bunt info / jumbo pack code card

Oddball finds in 2015 Topps Archives Sig Series

Three random Angels cards

2012 Topps Alberto Callaspo #189 - Golden moments parallel

I'll pick up whatever Angels inserts that catch my eye - though I'm not one to maintain wantlists for specific base / insert cards.

2012 Bowman Jered Weaver #200 - X-Fractor parallel

2013 Bowman Platinum Jered Weaver #3 - Ruby parallel

A look back - Topps Magazine

I was digging around my LCS and found some old Topps Magazines - I was tempted to pick at least a couple up since I remember picking up the first issue as a kid and liked the idea of an all-color magazine devoted to sports cards; there was a period of time where the only places I really got my collecting magazines was through supermarkets and I had to go into an actual card shop for a Beckett Baseball Card Montly magazine.

As a beginning collector with relatively little to spend, it was intimidating making my way inside a card shop every month a new Beckett would pop up, so the only magazine I was reading on a regular basis was Baseball Cards Magazine - I suppose Topps Magazine provided another alternative, which probably made spending time browsing the magazine rack at the supermarket that much easier while tagging along on shopping trips.

Like Baseball Cards Magazine, there were cards inserted into the magazine though I probably thought the cards were not 'real' because the card stock was a little different, even from the Baseball Card Magazine inserts - and it was impossible to remove the cards from the magazine [without the cards looking like garbage].

The cards in the Topps magazine were perforated, but the best I could do was try and tear the panels apart like they were monkey bread - the cards always were torn up.

This article in the particular magazine pictured was written by a then 15-year old named Tyler Kepner [who is a New York Times sportswriter now] - it's all the myriad of ways to go about finding ways to collect common cards that have the same theme, known to me as 'collecting topics cards' or better known to card bloggers as 'mini-collections.'

It was fun scanning through the story and realize this was probably something I read at some point - to serve as inspiration to collect in unique, if unconventional ways.

Salvaging a few Topps cards

1972 Topps Juan Marichal #568

At my LCS there are a few 'newer' shoe storage boxes on display featuring old school / vintage 'beaters' for a buck each - I go through them because the cards were probably part of someone's collection and maybe I can pick up some cards representing cardboard relics of the past.

1962 Topps Tony Kubek #311
1967 Topps Jim Palmer #152
1973 Topps Steve Carlton #300

The cards are kind of a cheap thrill to have in my hand since they were printed more than 40 years ago - even if the cards are merely worth what I paid for them.

Assorted vintage / old school pick-ups

I picked up a handful of assorted vg-ex cards and spent about an hour or so trying to create a post late Saturday night - adding pictures and commentary.

I thought I saved it and figured to set up another post - but I guess I wasn't paying attention and [perhaps I had a duplicate tab open for whatever reason] probably cut and paste whatever that was going onto a subsequent post into the one I felt I'd put all my effort into.

I'm not happy, but perhaps losing a post only means there is an opportunity to put together a new one - with the original serving as sort of a rough draft.

Maybe the main point of the original post was I'm looking to build up a little more cardboard diversity in my mini-collections - besides just rounding up cards printed from the last 30 years.

If I was really more organized, I'd have a formal, detailed wantlist so I'd know what to grab - as is, I was mostly looking for cards of players from different nations, particularly Latin America.

1970 Topps Roberto Pena #44 - Dominican Republic
1970 Topps Gill Garrido #48 - Panama
1970 Topps Juan Rios #89 - Puerto Rico
1970 Topps Jerry Morales / Jim Williams #262 - Puerto Rico

1971 Topps Duane Josephson #56 - tools of ignorance
1972 Topps Jim Nettles #131 - bloodlines; brother of Graig

1973 Topps Ed Kirkpatrick #233 - tools of ignorance

1973 Topps Ivan Murrell #409 - Panama

1974 Topps Paul Casanova #272 - Cuba

1974 Topps Steve Mingori #537 - facial hair
1975 Topps Carmen Fanzone #363 - had a second career as a musician; goes into my cult players / cult feats mini-collection.

1976 Topps Pepe Mangual #164 - Puerto Rico
1976 Topps Willie Montanez #181 - Puerto Rico
1976 Topps Luis Melendez #399 - Puerto Rico
1976 Topps Ted Martinez #356 - Dominican Republic

1978 Topps Oscar Zamora #91 - Cuba
1980 Topps Fernando Gonzalez #171 - Puerto Rico

1980 Topps Mark Lee #557 - facial hair
1984 Fleer Roy Lee Jackson #158 - featured on the Dime Boxes blog, I stumbled upon the card while leafing through a loose stack of 1984 Fleer.
1984 Fleer Luis DeLeon #297 - Puerto Rico
1984 Fleer Mario Ramirez #309 - Puerto Rico

Vintage baseball card display #1

During a pit stop at the McDonald's by the Salt River Fields in Arizona, I was wandering around and found a couple of baseball card related displays - no apparent theme, just a bunch of cards someone decided to matte and frame.

I assume many of the cards are original - but I can't really say for all them and there might be a few reprints.

Haven't bought any cards lately

But this coupon book might come in handy as far as some impulsive purchases - I'm going to try to find a 2014 Topps Heritage blaster box and see if I could get $5 off.

Vintage / old school miscellany

I'm not really familiar with vintage / old school cards so I'd rather not get caught up in digging through vg-ex beaters featuring rank-and-file players - still, holding cardboard 'relics' that maybe 40-50 years old is pretty neat and maybe gives me a peek into the past.

Vintage dollar box

1960 Topps Gene Conley #293 - also was an NBA player, so this card goes into my two-sports stars collection, which consists of cards featuring athletes who may have been notable enough to play professional sports [mainly baseball] and in at least one other sport.

1960 Topps Don Mossi #418 - with his signature good looks, everyone knows about Don Mossi even if they were oblivious of his playing career.
1964 Topps Ray Sadecki #147 - I saw this card online 'years ago' and I laughed...

1964 Topps Mike Shannon / Harry Fanok #262

Vintage / old school [1970's] quarter box
1975 Topps Brent Strom #643

1976 Topps Hal McRae #72 - love the nice, warm hearty laugh on this card of McRae.

1976 Topps Johnny Briggs #373 - contrasting with the morose 'non-expression' Briggs gives on this card.
1977 Topps Brent Strom #348

1977 Topps Mike Miley #387 - another two-sport star, his life was cut short, after spending parts of two seasons with the California Angels.
1977 Topps Burt Hooton #484
1978 Topps Brent Strom #509

Etc
2011 Topps Allen and Ginter Cody Ross #312 - I picked up a partial lot of 2011 Topps Allen and Ginter short prints for about $7 several years ago, though Ross wasn't one of the cards included.